Gaming & Culture —

Shooting blanks? Ars reviews two new Wii firearms

Fans of light-gun games have some more choices when it comes to plastic …

The Nintendo Wii is a system that seems almost designed for a light gun renaissance, and the system has more than a few games that bring the arcade experience home. Of course, playing with a stock Wiimote is no fun at all, and the Wii Zapper barely looks like anything, much less a weapon. So what else is there?

We're going to review two choices when it comes to Wii weaponry, and see if these peripherals are worth the money. Is the family-friendly system ready for some M-rated firearms? Let's take a look.

The Crossfire Remote Pistol is a light gun that plugs directly into the Wii Nunchuck, as opposed to simply being a custom case for the Wiimote. This is actually a good thing, as it allowed Penguin United to place the control buttons in areas that make sense; putting the A button on the grip where the thumb rests is a particularly good placement. Another great design choice was putting the directional pad on the back of the gun, right where the thumb can easily reach it.

The pistol fits into the palm of the hand perfectly, and it's also a much more comfortable way to play rail shooters since your hand and wrist aren't extended for long periods of time in order to hold the Wiimote out. If you've spent any time holding a real pistol, you'll probably feel right at home.

After starting the Wii, it took a few minutes to get used to to how the gun worked as a pointer. This eventually solved by simply moving the sensor bar to the top of the TV; when the bar was below the TV, the gun kept registering as pointing far lower than it was being aimed. However, as soon as the bar was repositioned, there was no problem.

Testing the controller out with Ghost Squad and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles showed great results. The pistol's worked flawlessly with each game, and the trigger allowed for even faster firing than we could pull off with a Wiimote.

The one (minor) problem that a user might have with the pistol is that its grip might be angled differently than some gamers might be used to, if they spend any amount of time shooting actual handguns. I didn't notice this, but my brother did, as he has a handgun that he regularly takes to the range. At the same time, once he spent a few minutes with the Remote Pistol, he didn't even notice that he had to shift his grip anymore.

Penguin United's Crossfire Remote Pistol is set to hit store shelves September 20 with an MSRP of $39.99. For FPS and rail shooter titles, this controller is a great accessory, but its appeal is limited to those kinds of games.

In terms of impressive-looking pieces of plastic, the Buckshot certainly delivers. Our review unit came in glossy red, and features grips that actually feel like rubber. The Wiimote slides into the top very easily, and a plastic bit on the stock locks the controller in place and connects the built-in nunchuk.

That's perhaps the best part of this gun, and the fact that adds the most to the value. On the back of the peripheral is an analog stick and the buttons from a nunchuk, meaning you don't have to deal with wires or an extra controller. Even better is the feeling of reloading your virtual gun by pumping the shotgun. The mechanism is simple: the pump hits the A-button, and the trigger maps to the B-button. The gun has a great look and feel, but the trigger would have been improved with a more substantial *click* when squeezed; it's a little squishy as it stands. The pump feels great however, nice and heavy, and an internal spring provides plenty of tension.

The only major draw back is that the rest of the buttons on the Wiimote are completely inaccessible. You won't be able to easily pause, or hit the + or - buttons, without lifting the top flap where the Wiimote is hidden. That's going to impact different games in different ways, so you may want to see what buttons your favorite shooters use before picking this one up.

It's not perfect, but the $30 to $40 asking price is made more tolerable by the inclusion of the nunchuk controls built in, and that aspect of the peripheral works perfectly. It's a shame the rest of the buttons couldn't have been made more accessible, but you have access to everything you need for most light gun games, in a very enjoyable package.

Verdict: Buy

Neither of these peripherals are perfect, but both of them do their job very well, while offering some useful features. The first gun replaces the Wiimote, the second replaces the nunchuk, and both feel much more natural than the Wii Zapper, while doing the added job of looking cool.

The light gun is back, and who could have guessed a Nintendo system would have raised it from the dead?